Short, personal, and opinionated views on books, movies, and TV.

The Names of Love

This French film asks the question — can a ditzy, open-hearted young woman with no apparently source of income find romance with an uptight middle-aged forensic scientist. Bien sur. The French name of this film, Les Noms de Gens, literally translates as “People’s Names”, and much of the film revolves around people’s attempts to stereotype each other based on their names (spectacularly unsuccessful in the case of the two protagonists). French comedies are rare, and this one has an edge, making fun of everything from casual racism and French cultural snobbery to the Holocaust (funnier than it sounds).

The movie gets an R rating, probably because of a running joke involving the woman’s absent-minded habit of forgetting some or all of her clothes. But if you’re OK with full frontal, this is a good-hearted movie the whole family can enjoy.